Our work describes a technique for testing the centricity of optical systems by using the point spread function. It is shown that a specific position of an axial object point can be found for every optical element, where the spherical aberration is either zero or minimal. If we image such a point with an optical element, then its point spread function will be almost identical to the point spread function of the diffraction-limited optical system. This consequence can be used for testing the centricity of precisely fabricated optical elements, because we can simply detect asymmetry of the point spread function, which is caused by the decentricity of the tested optical element. One can also use this method for testing optical elements in connection with a cementing process. Moreover, a simple formula is also derived for calculation of the coefficient of third-order coma, which is caused by the decentricity of the optical surface due to a tilt of the surface with respect to the optical axis, and a simple method for detecting the asymmetry of the point spread function is proposed.

© 2008 Optical Society of America

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Citation lists with outbound citation links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Figure files are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Article level metrics are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

Related Journal Articles

• Techniques for Measuring Aberrations in Lenses Used in Photolithography with Printed Patterns (AO)
• Aberration Measurement from Specific Photolithographic Images: A Different Approach (AO)
• Synthetic Aperture Interferometry: In-Process Measurement of Aspheric Optics (AO)
• Analysis of imaging properties of a vibrating thin flat mirror (JOSAA)
• Simultaneous characterization of the quality and orientation of cylindrical lens surfaces (AO)

Related Conference Papers

• Absolute Testing of a Cylinder Surface in Grazing Incidence
• The Ronchi Test and the Use of Structured Gratings for Sharpening the Fringes
• Application of the NANOMEFOS Non-contact Measurement Machine in Asphere and Freeform Optics Production
• Clash of Cultures: Uncertainty vs. Accuracy
• The Truth About Scratch And Dig